Creamed Corn

My friend Dani brought this creamed corn to Friendsgiving last week. We all loved it so much there was hardly any leftover. I made it tonight because I really didn't get enough!! I used frozen white corn, but yellow is just as great. I thawed it by putting it in a bowl with some warm water. This side is just what your dinner needs!!

Creamed Corn
adapted from allrecipes.com
3 TBSPs butter

3 TBSPs flour

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 -3 TBSPs sugar

2 (16 ounce) packages frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour, salt and pepper. Whisk quickly until bubbly.

2. Slowly add milk and cream, whisking as you pour. Add sugar. Cook whisking over medium heat until slightly thickened.
3. Add thawed corn and cook 4-5 min stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat, and stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted. Serve hot.

My Friendsgiving Table

I had my first ever Friendsgiving yesterday! We divided up the cooking, so I didn't have to make much, which was sooo nice. I was pretty proud of my table, so I wanted to share a few pics of what I did.

My centerpiece planter box is from an Etsy shop called The Wood Paper Studio. I love it. I cut some branches from a plant for the middle, and put pine cones and leaves around it.

I used a piece of burlap from the fabric store as a tablecloth and the glasses and chargers are from Dollar Tree. Only $1 each! I've had them for a few years, but they still sell them!

I made a Friendsgiving sign by printing out letters on the computer using a font called home hearth outlinebold. I cut them out and taped them to some jute twine. I also hung some felt garland that I made a couple of years ago with felt and embroidery thread. 

Pitcher from TJ Maxx

 I started collecting silverplate flatware this year, and now have enough for a few settings. Still looking for some more knives though.

For my place cards, I collected leaves around my neighborhood. I chose the prettiest ones and then ironed them between sheets of waxed paper, covered with a thin kitchen towel, until they were dry. Then I used a gold sharpie to write names on them. The leaves were very brittle and I accidentally poked holes in a few while writing, so I'm glad I had some extras. I also collected some tiny pine cones. I put them in a zip lock bag and froze them over night to kill any little bugs that might have been hanging out inside. I tied my napkins with the same jute twine and stuck a leaf and a small branch of pine cones on top.

Overall it didn't take much time to set up and was fairly inexpensive. The dinner was amazing! And the company was the best!

Halloween Candy Cookie Bars

What do you do when you've got mountains of chocolate candy bars sitting around? Make cookies, of course! After I pried some candy from my children's hands this afternoon, I chopped it up and used it in my Thick and Chewy M&M Cookie Bars recipe. Actually they were very willing to share and thought it would be fun to put their candy into the cookie bars. So now...we've got candy and cookies. :)

Recipe Here